Method of forming lubricated wire rope cores



Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES METHOD OF FORMING LUBRICATED WIREROPE CORES Walter D. Hodson, Beverly Hills, Ill.

No Drawing. Application November 4, 1935, Serial No. 48,262

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved method of forming lubricated wirerope cores; and particularly to such cores wherein the lubricantcomprises a viscous fiber-containing lubricant.

In my Patent 2,000,952, issued May 14, 1935 is described a wire ropehaving a lubricated core in which the lubricant comprises fibrousmaterial having markedly higher lubricant absorption powers than therope material.

As described therein, finely divided asbestos is preferably used as suchabsorbent material, and at the same time it acts as a lubricant andprevents wear of the binder fibers upon each other.

As described in the Patent 2,000,952,, any suitable lubricant may beused which the absorbent material will suitably absorb. It is preferredto use a greaseof high tenacity and viscosity. A grease comprisingseventy-two ('72) parts of mineral oil, for example, viscositynaphthalene base smackover oil, and two and one-half (2 parts ofaluminum oleate is satisfactory.

It is preferred to incorporate therewith a minor proportion of apreservative such as dgras, creosote, thymol, pine tar or the like.One-half'of 1% of dgras in the .above formula is preferred.

The amount of fibrous material to be mixed with the lubricant will, ofcQurse depend upon the absorbing qualities thereof. With a fairlycoarsely ground asbestos, three parts of the above mixture may be 'usedwith one part of the asbestos. A more carefully prepared asbestos may beincorporated in smaller proportion.

In my co-pending application 751,245, filed November 2,1934, isdescribed a method of incorporating lubricants of the type hereindescribed into the wire ropes or wire rope cores.

Wire rope cores are made up of twisted strands of vegetable fibers,these strands being themselves composed of twisted yarn or stringmaterial. The yarn or thread material is made up of the individualfibers which have been spun into either a yarn or thread material, theseterms as used being substantially synonymous and covering all primaryforms of spun material.

In the production of lubricated wire rope cores, it is extremelyimportant that the fibers pene trate to the innermost parts of thefibrous material. It has now been discovered that extremely satisfactoryresults in this respect may be obtained by incorporating the lubricantupon the yarn or string material, twisting the lubricant-coated yarninto strands, then twisting the lubricated strands into rope material,this twist, of course, being in an opposite direction, after which thewire strands are wound upon the core, very materially compressing it inthe process.

As an example of the process, the threads or yarns are spooled andtightly wound and then placed on a rack feeding a large number of thesethreads. Each thread is drawn through a bath of the lubricant, passingover and under rollers. It is then drawn through a metal die of theproper inside diameter to accommodate and hold under. pressure the totalnumber of yarns or threads being so treated and the threads are thenagain separated.' They are then drawn over a roll, always being underpressure and tension, and are respooled.

These spools of impregnated or partially impregnated threads are thensen to the ropemaking machine, which twists the threads into strands,and passes them through a sizing die. The strands are then twisted intoropes in passing through a sizing die, which is then wound upon a reel.In some instances, itma'y be desired to add additional lubricant to thethreads just prior to incorporation into the strands. v

During the entire rope-forming operation the threads and strands areunder pressure and tension and also under twisting strains, so that thelubricant together with the loosely distributed absorbent fibers isforced into all parts of the rope material. This distribution is furtherassisted by the winding of the wire strands about the rope core. In thisprocess the core is generally compressed one-third in volume, with theresult that lubricant is still further distributed therethrough.

As used in the claims herein, the term thread has been used to coveryarn, string, andalso primary spun material of like type.

The foregoing detailed description has been therefrom, but the appendedclaims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of theprior art.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In the application of a viscous fiber containing adhesive lubricantto a wire rope core comprising twisted strands of thread material, thesteps of applying lubricant to the thread to provide a .coating thereon,.passing a number of coated threads under pressure through a die,twisting a plurality of the threads into a strand, passing the strandthrough a die, twisting a plurality of strands into ropes whilepassingthrough a die under pressure, whereby the lubricant is pressedand squeezed among and about the indi-

